


How to (not) get a prom date

by wertdifferenz



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Fluff, High School, M/M, Prom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-22
Updated: 2019-07-22
Packaged: 2020-07-11 11:51:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19927633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wertdifferenz/pseuds/wertdifferenz
Summary: Thanks to Shiro, Keith kind of has to ask his crush, High School hottie and captain of the swim team, out for prom, although he knows that he doesn't stand a chance. And it doesn't help that his brain switches off whenever they actually interact.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, this is a story I posted on Instagram before uploading it here, so you might have seen it already. My Instragram is @wertdifferenz.art for everyone wondering, and currently I'm working on an airline au there!

Keith knows that he doesn’t stand a chance.

He is a proper nerd after all, thick glasses and messy hair, weird clothes thanks to his parents being too cheap to get him so nice looking shirts (he swears, they just adopted him so they can give him Shiro’s old stuff), hobbies and interests even weirder than his clothes and don’t even get him started on his friends.

He loves them, but still. They are weird. _He_ is weird.

That’s why he knows he doesn’t stand a chance against all those hot and beautiful and cute and interesting and just not-weird people that flirt with the High School swim team captain Lance McClain.

He is just too pretty, too charming, too popular, too perfect to ever be interested into someone like Keith, even less Keith himself.

Keith’s stupid heart still won’t give up his crush on him though.

And that’s how he finds himself sitting at lunch, Pidge and Hunk talking animatedly about some tech-stuff they’ve been working on for the robotics club and Matt joining in with a few tips or comments every now and then. Shiro, Adam and Curtis are awkwardly flirting with each other at the end of the table, still trying to find balance in their newly founded relationship.

Even Allura and Romelle are busy talking about whatever those two are talking. Keith stopped listening the moment McClain walked into the room. They talked about school before, but by now it could also be something about the upcoming play of the drama club, or the prom in a few weeks, or just some date-ideas for their afternoon.

The most important thing is, that everyone is oblivious to his obvious pining, which Keith is thankful for. He doesn’t need anyone commenting on his heart-eyes or red cheeks he tries to hide with his long bangs whenever McClain laughs, or smiles, or does anything remotely beautiful like existing.

He knows best how far gone he is, and he knows best that he doesn’t stand a chance, so getting his friends’ interest involved would be like setting traps for an already caught Bigfoot: useless.

A sigh escapes his lips, a little bit too loud for his liking, and Keith quickly glances to the side to see if his friends noticed.

They didn’t.

But he’s glad. Keith forces his attention away from the group at the popular end of the cafeteria and back onto the group at the nerd-table. The name isn’t really accurate with Allura, Romelle and Curtis around, but it’s hard to find a better description for this weird bunch of teenager than that.

The topic hasn’t really changed in his mental absence, so it’s easy to get back into the girls’ conversation about their current history class. There is an exam in the afternoon which they are anxious about, since their history teacher Mr. Smythe loves to ask the most random questions, testing everybody not only on their ability to stay concentrated during his monologues about the world, but also their capability to achieve so much useless knowledge.

Not even Allura, his own niece, is able to guess most questions right.

“It’s impossible to get a straight A in his class,” Romelle complains, though with her grades she should stop worrying about not getting ‚A’s and start worrying about not getting any more ‚D’s.

Keith keeps that comment to himself though. He doesn’t need to bring his friend down when his current grades for his Spanish class don’t look any better.

“Nothing about us is straight,” Keith says instead. It earns him a chuckle and a push against his shoulder, as well as the attention of the rest of the table.

“What are you complaining about?” Adam asks, raised eyebrow and stern voice giving him the ultimate dad-look. Keith can already see him keeping Shiro’s and Curtis’ butt in check as soon as they leave for college.

“History,” the three of them answer simultaneously, and a collected groan comes from the group.

Pidge sighs the loudest. Even with their genius-brain it’s impossible to get all points on Smythe’s test. “Don’t get me started on that. I’d much rather talk about prom.” And that means a lot, coming from their mouth, since they hate prom.

Romelle doesn’t though. “Uh, I can’t wait! Only four more weeks, and we will dance the night away!” She grabs Allura’s hand and intertwines their fingers, giggling excitedly. Allura matches her smile, and in the far distance you can hear Pidge gagging at them.

An idea plops into Keith’s head. What kind of little brother would he be, if he didn’t use every chance to tease his big brother. “Hey Shiro,” he starts, the grin on his lips already giving him away. Shiro silently shakes his head at him, using his ‚don’t you dare’ stare, but Keith is having way too much fun to think about the consequences.

“Did you ask Adam and Curtis out for prom yet?”

Seven heads whip around, everyone excited for the answer. With the triad still being so fresh, and the three boys seriously lacking the basic skill of talking to each other, prom was probably a too heavy topic for the three of them.

As if Keith would care. He’d never ask if he had to worry ruining something for his brother, but making him uncomfortable is a whole different matter.

“So?”

“I was planning to,” Shiro says smoothly, way too smoothly for Keith’s liking, suspicion picking up. Turning towards his boyfriends he adds: “But I wanted to ask you out on a date first, if that’s okay?”

Of course his boyfriends are okay with it, they are his _boyfriends_ after all. Keith rolls his eyes, catches Pidge do the same and they grin at each other. Pidge loves teasing her brother just as much as him, after all.

“Hey Keith?”

He looks back to Shiro, the smile quickly fading from his face as he sees his brother’s grin. That combined with the knowledge that Shiro is an actual asshole who loves teasing his brother even more than Keith and Pidge together, he can only imagine the worst.

“Didn’t you want to ask Lance McClain to prom?”

And the worst is what Shiro serves.

Seven heads whip around again, this time watching him instead. Keith can feel the heat rise to his cheeks, and gives his brother a deadly stare, only to get ignored.

“I didn’t think you would actually go for it!” Romelle says excitedly, and with a big smile on her face.

Allura nods along. “I am glad you are finally willing to make a move, Keith. Your obvious pinning was making us worry about you.”

_So he was that obvious, huh._

Pidge is uncharacteristically quiet about the whole matter, which basically tells Keith all he needs to know. They knew about his feelings, probably even before Keith realized them, but kept silent for whatever reason. He needs to ask them later about it.

But first, he needs to find a way to get out of this situation. With the whole group looking all expectant and excited at him, not even bothering to ask for his point of view, it’s hard to find the right words though.

And before he can explain why the hottest guy of the school will _not_ go on a date with him, Hunk speaks up.

“Dude, you should totally go for it,” he says, nodding approvingly. Keith has a hard time not to hate him right now. Hunk is one of those people who see the world through pink sunglasses, unable to realize that Keith’s chances with the captain of the swim team are close to minus one hundred.

The rest of the group seems to either be on the same page as Shiro to tease him, or to be just as oblivious as Hunk, because they simply agree with him. From the corner of his eye Keith can see Shiro grin at him, proud of his work of screwing Keith over.

And this is how Keith’s high school life goes downwards.


	2. Chapter 2

Three things have been established today: 

1\. Keith’s brother is an asshole.  
2\. Keith’s friends are unintentional assholes with good intentions.  
3\. Keith is screwed.

And if the universe doesn’t hate him enough, he fucks up his history test as well. 

By the end of the class Keith is ready to dig out a nice, deep hole in the ground and stay there for the rest of his life. 

With a sigh he exists his last class and walks through the crowded hallways towards the parking lot. Shiro is the one with a license and a car, being the ‘mature’ one out of the two of them. That also means that he has to let Keith drive with him in the morning, which he loves and hates at the same time. 

Loves, because he doesn’t have to take the school bus. Hates, because Shiro also drives his two boyfriends to school, and they start being all lovey-dovey even before he picks them up, and from then on it only gets worse. 

(But he hates nothing more than the school bus, so Keith suffers in silence.)

The parking lot is just as crowded as the hallways, but at least Keith has the open sky and some fresh air to breath. Or rather sigh. Especially when he sees McClain again, this time together with his sisters. 

Today just keeps getting more and more exhausting. 

McClain is talking with his twin while the three of them walk towards his older sister’s car. He looks a bit tired as well, but Keith knows that the season for all those swim tournaments is coming up, and that Lance probably has to put a lot of energy into training and school.

Or maybe he’s a genius in both, and he just spend half of the night talking to his girlfriend. Or boyfriend. Or just friend, or whatever. 

Another sigh leaves his lips, but his breath stops midway when someone wraps their skinny arm around his shoulder and pull him down. 

“Pidge,“ he grumbles, realizing that the height can only belong to the gremlin of his high school. “Stop that.“

“Alright, alright, grumpy cat.“ They give him some space and fall into step with him, walking towards the end of the parking lot where Matt has parked his excuse of a car as well. “I wanted to ask you something.“ 

Keith eyes them from the side, wary of what will come out of their mouth next. He’s almost sure that they want to ask about his crush, since it seems to be so obvious to everyone. Keith is simply not in the mood of explaining himself, especially since he simply doesn’t have an explanation. He asks himself as well why he’s crushing on Lance McClain so hard that he could as well play one of those lovestruck fools in a romantic comedy for teenagers.

“Shoot,“ he says nevertheless, because he knows that Pidge won’t shut up, even if Keith tries to remain silent about it. He just wants to have the upper hand this time. 

“Lance McClain,“ they start slowly, quiet enough that the other students around them don’t hear the name. Pidge grins at him, the evil smirk they put on when they plan to do something very stupid that everyone but them will suffer from. 

Keith braces for the worst, and the worst is what Pidge delivers. 

“Are you ready to talk to him?“

“Wha-“

Before Keith can stop them, Pidge is shouting over half of the parking lot, successfully getting the attention of the one and only Lance McClain, as well as the rest of the roughly two hundred students around them. Pidge is also waving like crazy, making it impossible to miss them. 

Keith already wishes the earth would have mercy and swallow him right on this spot, but Pidge would not be Pidge if they wouldn’t get what they aim for. 

In this case: getting McClain to walk over to them. 

And when he realizes that his crush is weaving through the people and cars, an amused smile on his lips as he gets closer and closer, Keith is ready to die. 

He finally manages to act and throw his hand over Pidge’s pie-hole, using his free arm to wrangle the tiny beast under control. It doesn’t really help that Pidge has enough experience wrestling with their brother, managing to get out of Keith’s grip just as easy as pushing him away from them and waiting for McClain with the most innocent fake-smile Keith has ever seen on them. 

“Lance, thank you for coming.“ Their voice is just as fake as that stupid smile, and Keith would gag if he wasn’t too shocked to move. 

Because Lance McClain is standing here, right in front of him, lazy smile on his lips as he asks Pidge what is up, and why they called him over. 

“Oh, my friend Keith here wanted to talk to you!“

In one, swift move Pidge turns around, rounds Keith who is still standing like a tree on a cliff, meaning fucking close to falling, and leaves them alone. Just like that. Keith and his crush. 

Oh boy. 

It doesn’t help that Lance looks at Keith like puppy, big round eyes, curious tilt of his head, and so-

…so…

Striking? Dazzling? Gorgeous? Radiant? Stunning?

Stunning!

Stunning Keith, literally, because he can’t fucking move. Can’t fucking think!

He feels the heat creep up his face, and his hands fists into his shirt. He’s sure people around them are already starring, which makes Keith feel even more like fool. Why can’t a comet struck him down right now? That would be very much appreciated.

“Hey man,“ Lance says suddenly, taking a step closer to Keith, the worry clear on his face now. And his head is still tilted, and his sapphire blue puppy-eyes are sparking in the sunlight, and since he’s so close now Keith can see the faint freckles on his face, thousands of them like stars in the night sky. 

Keith feels the gay panic welling up inside him, his breath hitching when Lance reaches out to touch his shoulder, his lips parting and asking something, but Keith can’t hear him over the swooshing sound of angel fluttering right beside his ears and the realization that Lance must use lip balm, because his lips are plump and shiny and they look so soft, Keith could kiss him right now. But he doesn’t want that, of course. 

Only that he does.

And now he’s imagining it. Which does not help!

Why is he dreaming of kissing him now? Brain, stop! Please, he doesn’t want that! Well, he does, but not right now, because he needs to think, needs to say something, but all his brain provides is the image of Lance’s lips on him and the blank page where words should be, words to be spoken out loud, words that could save him from this embarrassment, but the only word that comes to his mind is ‘nope’, and he can’t possibly say that!

But Lance comes closer again, tilts his head more, raises his eyebrows in question and-

“Nope!“ 

Lance recoils, takes a step back, his hand moving from Keith’s shoulder. He looks surprised at Keith’s sudden outburst; his arm still raised mid-air, and his beautiful blue eyes wide. 

He leaves Keith enough space to flee, which he does, immediately. He rounds Lance, then the car, another one and a few students, running blindly over the parking lot until he finally reaches Shiro and the rest of the group. 

Pidge is laughing like a maniac, whispering Keith’s pathetic words over and over again under their breath. It would be hilarious to watch her almost fall over if the reason of their laughter wasn’t Keith. 

“You alright, man?“ Hunk, the everlasting cinnamon-roll, asks instead. His eyes move from Keith to Lance, who is still watching Keith, even as he walks back towards his sisters. 

Keith murmurs his answer as he passes Hunk, which sends Pidge into another fit because all his brain provides is the same as before: “Nope.“

He ignores the rest of the group, simply gets into Shiro’s car, puts on his seatbelt and headphones and plays the first thing that comes to his dash, which is a love song that makes him feel even worse. His phone vibrates with messages from Pidge, but he refuses to open them, prefers to stare out of the window on the short drive home and to keep wishing for his immediate death.

He is so screwed.


	3. Chapter 3

Smothering himself with a pillow does not work, Keith realizes, as he gasps for air again. It’s the third time in the past twenty minutes he thought about calling Pidge to help him with the pillow, but he doesn’t want to hear their maniac cackling over the phone, and he doesn’t want to owe them a favor for having some mercy on him.

He owes them enough already, and he’s scared of the moment they will come to him for payment.

Death would be much nicer than that.

Keith’s phone vibrates in his backpack. He hasn’t taken it out after arriving at home, hasn’t done much at all beside screaming into his pillow and ignoring his brother’s laugh from the other room.

The vibration doesn’t stop, an incoming call making Keith finally get up from his (death)bed. One look at the screen makes him groan again, but in fear of having to face worse he accepts Pidge’s call.

“What do you want?” he murmurs, getting up to make sure that his door is closed. He doesn’t need Shiro or his mom spying on his phone calls, especially if Pidge wants to talk about his ‘problem’.

“A very good day to you as well, Keith.” Pidge sounds way too chipper, and a shiver runs down Keith’s spine. “Anyway, I talked to Hunk about Lance.”

Keith groans, long and loud, perfectly displaying the pure annoyance he feels deep in his stomach. “Why?”

Pidge ignores him, like, completely. “Hunk and he were like, best friends all through primary school,” they explain slowly, their voice still carefully happy.

“They’re not friends anymore?” Keith rolls onto his stomach, since he knows that Pidge won’t let him off the hook too soon. Might as well make himself comfortable while they’re at it.

“They are,” Pidge starts slowly, “Hunk just said that they just don’t talk as often anymore, since his robotics club and Lance’s swimming keep them busy all the time.”

Makes sense, since Keith rarely sees Hunk as well, even in school. He can’t remember the last time they all hung out together actually.

“But they are neighbors, so they see each other often enough,” Pidge continues.

Keith thinks about his next question. Really thinks about it, because every conversation with Pidge has some consequences, and he doesn’t want to get his hopes up. In the end though, he just has to ask. “So, Hunk knows what Lance likes?”

“Yes and no.”

Ugh, that doesn’t help him at all. And he kind of doesn’t have time for that, since he still has homework to do, and tests to learn for, and eat dinner later on, maybe watch a documentary, all while he shouldn’t even ask those questions in the first place.

He won’t ask Lance McClain out after all.

“Pidge,” he grumbles nevertheless.

Keith hears a low snicker over the phone, getting louder and louder until Pidge laughs loud enough to disturb the whole neighborhood. It’s probably more show than anything else, but it still makes Keith shiver.

With reason, because like the little devil Pidge is, they request the worst from a friend.

“Beg."

“Pidge! Come on!” And why is Keith screaming again? He doesn’t need that information. He doesn’t need to beg; he can just hang up and be done with it.

“You heard me,” they say when Keith is _still_ on the phone, thumb not even near the end-call button. It sound like they are leaning back into their old, squeaking chair, pre-owned by the other gremlin of the household. “I have to get something out of doing the work for your sorry butt.”

Keith briefly wonders if Pidge will ever grow out of their villainy like Matt did and become a simple nerd. Chances are low, he knows that, but one can still wish.

“Fine,” he sighs, dramatically like Shiro taught him years ago to get more candy from their grandparents. “Please, Pidge, give me the information.”

A long hum is all Keith gets, and a few seconds later a way too innocent: “What information?”

“Ugh.” Keith can’t believe that he’s doing it, and he will forever deny that those words ever left his mouth, but he also knows he would regret not doing it, even though he won’t ask him out. “Pidge, pretty, pretty please give me the information about the boy I’m crushing on.”

A cackle. “Are you kneeling on the floor?”

“I’m going to tell Matt to kneel on you, and you know he’ll gladly do it!” Keith huffs, ready to write their brother to do exactly that. He still has a few favors Matt owes him, but like he said, Matt would probably do it for free, as long as their parents are not around.

“Okay, okay,” Pidge budges, “I accept your pathetic begging. Listen up.” They tip something into their phone, probably pulling out some messages from Hunk, her tiny fingers making way too much noise around the mic. A deep breath before they start, voice a bit more distant now. “Lance is into swimming-”

“Duh.” Keith can’t help himself, but gets ignored again.

“-video games, the aquarium, iced coffee with caramel, pancakes with chocolate chips, hazelnut cookies, and last but not least, girls _and_ boys!”

Okay, yes, Keith can work with the ‘and boys’ part. He still wonders though: “What’s up with the things in the middle?”

Keith can literally hear their nonchalant shrug. “Date ideas for the future. Anyway, he’s into boys, so you got a chance. You just have to take it.”

A thick wave of anxiety hits him, like oil in the ocean sticking to his skin and making him slowly sink to the sea floor where the air gets pulled out of his lungs. “I literally cannot see me having a chance with a complete make-over and personality change,” Keith says breathless, his phone dropping onto the bed so he can roll onto his side and wrap his arms around his chest.

He feels like a fool having listened to all the stuff Pidge told him. Keith knows better, is aware of himself and his chances, but his curiosity just got the best of him. It’s nice to have all that information about Lance, little things that make Keith feel closer to him, but the abyss between them is still insurmountable, and even if he had wings, they are covered in black, viscid oil, making it impossible to fly.

Anyway. “Have you seen the people he hangs out with?”

“Yes, and he is dating none of them, so he clearly isn’t into them. But you-”

Keith laughs incredulously. “Me?”

  
“You are nothing like them!” Pidge almost screams, the frustration now clear in their voice. “Do the fucking math!”

Keith is silent for a while, doing the fucking math, but it just doesn’t add up. He said it before: popular High School hottie will never date someone like Keith, even less Keith himself. They are not in a romantic comedy for teenagers, and things like happy endings won’t happen to Keith anymore.

He used up all his luck with getting adopted after all. And he’s fine with his life, fine with not dating Lance McClain. It’s just a crush after all, a three-semester long crush, and it will go away eventually.

“Pidge.” Keith lets out a long sigh, trying to show his resolve with the next words. “I am _not_ going to ask him to be my prom date.”

“Keith-”

“Nope,” he interrupts, “I won’t to it.”

It’s final, his decision and the tone of his voice. The message is more than clear, and Keith won’t accept a ‘no’ this time.

“Fine,” Pidge says, but it’s not the ‘fine’ Keith was aiming for. It sounds like something completely else, something like-

“Then I’ll make you ask him.”

“What?” That’s not what Keith wanted to hear. Definitely not what he was aiming for. They can’t just make him do it! “Pidge, wai-”

They hang up. Keith calls back immediately, but it goes straight to voicemail, even after the tenth try. Panic wells up in his chest, because while he knows what Pidge is capable of, he doesn’t know what they are planning, and that’s like, literally one of his worst fears.

Oh boy, he is _so_ screwed!


	4. Chapter 4

Keith did the fucking math, for half of the night, and then he fell asleep, dreaming about the fucking math problem as well.

To say he is exhausted is an understatement.

His mom looked at him funny the whole time from waking up until leaving with Shiro, and the stares from Adam and Curtis were even worse. But no one spoke up, probably curtesy of Pidge who informed them in their group chat that Keith will be a grumpy cat this morning.

Well, they were not wrong.

Sadly, the teachers didn’t get the message, or just ignored the massive bags under Keith’s eyes and the short answers he gave them. Maybe they even picked up on it and made his day even harder, since it seemed that beside his friends, no one is planning to give him a break from all this bullshit.

Gosh, he hates speaking in front of them class, even worse in Spanish, where his stupid accent and his lack of words make the whole class giggle like the assholes they are. They don’t sound any better, they’re just not the ones getting picked by the fucking teacher.

So, Keith’s day is shit. Shit with capitol ‘S’ and the trademark sign at the end, because he can’t see it getting any better, even when Hunk gives him some homemade chocolate chip cookies during lunch, or when Pidge lets him copy the math homework.

Because even though he did the fucking math for half of the night, he forgot to do the actual fucking math.

And after P.E., when Keith is sweaty and gross and doesn’t think it can get any worse, guess who decides to show up?

Right, Lance does.

Keith knows the drill by now. Watches Lance’s easy smile, his confident walk, his gaze fixed on Keith as if to make sure that he doesn’t run away, which Keith is seriously considering by the way, but those eyes, gosh, who could say no to them?

So, with Keith frozen in his spot, it’s easy for Lance to get closer, so close, only an armlength apart, hands casually in the pockets of his blue bomber jacket and his head crooked again like a puppy, like Kosmo does it all the time to demand more cookies.

It always works, for Kosmo and for Lance.

“Hey, man,” Lance starts after the students around them are mostly gone. They are in the middle of the hallway between the gym and the canteen, but since it’s still an hour until lunch break, they are almost alone. “About yesterday, I-”

“Prom!” Wait, what? That’s not what Keith wanted to say! He didn’t even want to say anything, and why is he interrupting Lance without even knowing what _he_ wants to say? All those questions tumble through Keith’s head, but everything that comes out is: “You’re going!”

Lance tilts his head a bit more, eyebrows rising slightly. “What, prom? No, not really, no one a-”

“You’re going!” That’s definitely not what Keith is trying to say! What the hell is wrong with him?

And Lance just, like, ignores his stupid answers, his rude interruption, goes on with the conversation like everything is normal. Easy smile, hands still so casually in his jacket, only his eyebrows giving him away as they rise even higher. “Like I said, I don’t really plan to go.”

Finally, one clear thought passes through Keith’s brain, which gets send out through his mouth right away. “You have to!” But then more questions arise, like, why does Keith want him to go in the first place? Like, why should Lance go if Keith doesn’t even want to go? Like, how does his stupid butt save himself from the catastrophic start of today’s, oh and yesterday’s, conversation and muster up a smooth line to ask Lance out?

Like, where does the math turn into algebra that makes impossible calculations possible? And like, don’t women do that impossible stuff? He’s just a teenage boy! He can’t do this!

And now Lance is just as confused as Keith. “What?”

Okay, brain, mouth, it’s just a simple question. And easy string of words. ‘Will you go to prom with me?’ Not _that_ hard.

Right.

“Prom!” And Keith’s voice breaks, just like the day before! With all those repetitions one should think he would be able to react better. “With me,” he croaks, which sounds more like a hoarse frog than the sixteen-year-old teenage boy he’s trying to be.

And it doesn’t even clear things up.

“What?”

That’s the exact word that’s still running through Keith’s brain. But finally, finally some other, some right words are popping up as well. Keith already got you, me and prom out, so he only needs to ask a proper question.

“You’re going with ME!”

Just not like that. Keith facepalms himself internally, since his body is still frozen on the spot. How can this get any worse?

After quite a while with silence between them, Lance speaks up again. “Is that, like, a threat?” He sounds so unsure, completely lost, and his puppy-like head tilt gets even worse when he pulls out his puppy-like eyes as well. His beautiful, ocean blue eyes that seem to sparkle even in the horrible lightning of the school hallway.

Keith could get lost in those eyes. Oh no, wait, he’s actually lost in those eyes, because he just totally forgot Lance’s question? But it’s still about prom, right? Because Keith finally got some words out, even though they sounded vaguely like a threat, and, wait- he didn’t threaten Lance, right?

Because that would be even worse than the stuttering or the embarrassing croaking or the pathetic performance from the day before. But Keith is not _that_ stupid, right?

Anyway, Lance is still looking at him, so he needs and answer, something positive, something his brain is happy to provide. “Yes?”

Amazing. Pulitzer prize-worthy. But hey, it does the trick, because Lance’s cute frown turns into a cute smile again, and he laughs, like, way too loud for the empty hallway and Keith’s miserable try at asking him out, but at least he’s laughing. Threatened people wouldn’t laugh, right?

“Wait, really?” Lance is giggling now, his smile hidden behind his hand, the other clutching his stomach. It’s nice that at least one of them is having fun, especially when Lance drops the bomb Keith so gracefully missed to remember. “You’re threatening me to prom?”

Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck! Did he say that? _Why_ did he say that? What the heck is he doing? Abort mission, abort mission! Just, just run! Like yesterday, just run!

Like yesterday-

“NOPE!”

And Keith runs, like the fool he is. Leaving Lance in the empty hallway between the gym and the canteen, like the fool he is. With the same phrase from the day before, like the fool he is.

Runs like a fool through half of the school, probably far away from his next class if he could even remember where that is. Runs and runs and runs right into Pidge, and after all this drama, it’s nice to see a familiar face that doesn’t set him into an immediate panic.

“Pidge!” he wails, getting the attention of the students around him, but his eyes are fixed on the gremlin and their confused frown which turns into a grimace when Keith goes for a hug. “I did it _again_! _”_

_“_ What?” They try to untangle themselves from Keith’s grip, the annoyance clear in their voice. “What happened?”

“I said it again!” Keith groans into their shoulder, everything muffled by their green sweater that smells oddly like pizza and old magazines. Gosh, they probably never washed it before, probably got it as filthy as it is as a hand-me-down from Matt. And Keith hugs them even closer, trying to smother himself for good this time.

“Keith, urgh-” Pidge gets one arm free, hitting him like they would hit a stray, so basically petting his head, “what did you say again?”

“...nope...”

“What? Wait-” A groan leaves their lips, something Keith feels vibrating through him, and the petting stops. Instead they grab a bunch of his hair and pull his head back so they can look at him, eyebrows furrowed and the same grimace from before on their face. “Please don’t tell me you said it to Lance again?”

Just thinking about it hurts bad, speaking it out loud even more, the waves of shame and embarrassment crashing together deep in his chest. He ignores the sting in his head when he buries his head back into Pidge’s sweater. “I did.”

“Keith.” A deep sigh. “That’s kinda pathetic.”

“I know,” he murmurs, coming out of his hiding spot to send a begging look towards them. „Kill me please?”

Pidge presses their lips together. “No, we have history next, and I won’t go into Mr. Smythe’s class without someone suffering with me.” They start walking towards the end of the hallway, even manages to drag Keith along with them.

“The whole class suffers with you,” Keith notices quietly, but loud enough for Pidge to hear. He finally releases them and gives them some space, hoping to find a loophole to escape the next class, but the hand that quickly snatches the sleeve of his jacket keeps him from getting far.

“I don’t care. Come on, I don’t want to be late.” They tug him harshly until they reach the classroom where Mr. Smythe is already preparing himself for his next grand speech about whatever off-topic discussion he wants to talk about today.

As soon as they reach their seats in the middle of the room, Pidge leans in to send him an encouraging smile. “Might as well think of a way to fix your massive screw-up.”

_If_ that’s even possible. Keith for once doesn’t believe in that anymore.


	5. Chapter 5

“Keith,” Pidge says with a pat on his back, which probably should be encouraging, but all it does is rattle his nerves even more, “this plan is so simple that not even you can fail.”

Keith frowns at them, a bit hurt of their opinion on that matter, since this plan is really so simple that he can’t fail. “I’m not that stupid.”

“Dude,” Pidge groans, and Keith knows what they will say next, because he might have thought the same when they proposed it, but he at least tried to make himself look less like the disaster that he actually is, and more like a functioning human being. But he isn’t, and so he has to face Pidge’s truth. “You fucked up. Big time.”

“Twice,” Hunk chimes in, though on sharp look from Keith makes him shut his mouth quickly. Seriously, he loves that cinnamon roll of a man, but sometimes his tongue is faster than his brain. And right now, Keith really doesn’t need to hear it.

“Thank you, Hunk.” If only Pidge would shut up. The world would be an easier place. Well, not the whole world, but at least Keith’s little, two-feet bubble of anxiety would be.

“Twice, Keith!” Pidge quickly shoves two fingers into Keith’s face, their hand reaching out even quicker to grab Keith’s shoulder in an iron grip when he tries to take a few steps back. “Just give him the cookies and apologize for being so weird.”

See, the plan _is_ simple. “That’s all.” So simple. But still…

Hunk seem to catch up on his hesitance. “He will like the cookies, I promise.”

Said cookies get places into Keith’s hands now, a cute container with sunflowers decorating the precious goods inside there. The only hope for Keith undoing the massive fuck-up; the only hope for Keith to still score a prom date.

Even though he doesn’t even want to go to prom.

Or maybe he does. Whatever. It’s not like Lance will say ‘yes’.

Pidge snorts next to him. “That’s like a no brainer, Hunk. Everyone likes your cookies.” They turn Keith on their heel, surprising him with the strength in those tiny arms, or is it just him that’s weak right now?

Anyway, Keith gets turned around, now facing Lance McClain who just arrived at his locker like Hunk said he would, changing his math books for his history books like Pidge said he would, looking like an angel with his curly hair and his cute freckles and his blue eyes like Keith knew he would.

“I haven’t made any for Lance since we started high school, so he’s gonna be happy.” Hunk leans down over Keith’s shoulder, his hand right between Keith’s shoulder blades. It should probably feel reassuring, but his heavy presence is more threatening to Keith right now than anything else.

He looks over his shoulder, trying to swallow his anxious nerves down. “What if he doesn’t like cookies anymore?” The question leaves him before he can think about it, but since he’s already started... “Or what if his favorite ingredients have changed? Hunk, I can’t-”

“Hey, Lance!” Hunk shouts suddenly, waving Lance over as soon as he looks at them; screwing Keith over at the same time.

“You can,” Hunk and Pidge whisper in unison, just a second before Hunk uses his hand on Keith’s back to shove him a good five feet forward. If it hadn’t been for Keith’s good reflexes and the fact that he values the cookies in his hands more than his life he would have fallen over, but he manages to catch himself.

The only thing that he doesn’t manage to catch is his breath, as Lance is standing right in front of him when Keith finally looks up.

And for once, his disaster brain gives him some slack and remembers the plan.

“Here.”

Keith shoves the cookies right into Lance’s chest, using a little bit too much force he realizes as a quiet huff leaves Lance’s mouth. Lance doesn’t complain though, just takes the box with raised eyebrows and holds it when Keith’s pulls his hands back into his own chest.

“For me?” he asks kind of confused, looking from the box to Keith’s nod and back to the box before opening it. When he finally sees what’s inside, his whole face lights up like the sun, relieving Keith from part of his anxiety. “Thanks, man.”

“And...” That vibrant smile gives him courage to speak up. “I’m sorry.”

Lance tilts his head a bit, taking one of the cookies and shoving the whole thing into his mouth. “Fo wha?” His mouth is so full that Keith has problem understanding him, but he gets the message.

“For being weird.”

Keith gets a long hum in return; watches Lance take another cookie with a smile that freezes as it hits him. “Are those Hunk’s cookies?” After another nod, his smile shines even brighter. “Hell yeah, I didn’t have them in years!”

He chuckles quietly, his mouth still full so it sounds more like a long string of huffs, though the twinkle in his eyes makes it clear how happy he is right now. “You’re forgiven, my man.” After eating another cookie, he holds out the box for Keith. “You want some?”

And who is Keith to say ‚no’ to one of Hunk’s heavenly cookies. “Thanks.“

“Wait a sec-” Lance stops mid-bite, just like Keith who hasn’t even manage to take a bite on his own. He looks at Lance, confused and a bit scared that he will be told off again. Lance stares back at him, the gears visible turning in his head. “Is that a bribe?”

_What?_

“What?”

Lance shrugs with a grin, swallowing the last bit of his cookie before he continues. “Well, you tried to threaten me yesterday. Are you trying to bribe me now?”

And oh shit, this actually makes sense. Wait- did Hunk and Pidge wanted to subtly bribe Lance into liking Keith? Was this all part of their plan that Keith didn’t get because he’d rather spend his time panicking over this exact situation than actually trying to think about their genius yet very devilish try on making the hottest guy of the school like Keith – the fucking gay disaster – Kogane?

“No, I-” And Keith’s brain is failing again, but this time it’s actually for a valid reason. “I-uh… I guess that could be seen as a bribe-” he stutters out, stopping himself mid-sentence.

What the hell is he saying? What the hell is he _supposed_ to answer? That was definitely not what Pidge and Hunk planned, right? Right? The plan was to make him less like a stupid mess, and not to screw him over again, though with Pidge you can never be sure! But- but-

“Because it’s working.”

_What._

“What.”

“The bribing. It’s working.” Lance smirks, _smirks_ at _Keith_ , sending him into another spiral of brain-freeze through hyper-sensation, and takes a step towards Keith. “I love Hunk’s cookies.” His hand raises slowly, his finger gently brushing a stray strand of Keith’s hair out of his face and placing it behind his ear in one smooth motion like the smooth motherfucker he is.

“But I wanna get asked out properly,“ Lance continues, now grabbing the cookie in Keith’s hand and placing it on his own lips. “You know, no running away, no screaming ‘nope’ into my face and all that. You think you can do that?”

And then he kills the bird by _winking_. At Keith. With his ocean blue eyes and the cookie on his lip and a slight blush under the freckles that look like a starry night on his perfect face.

And Keith panics.

_Again._

“Nope?”

“Dude.” But at least he sounds amused. He’s still grinning, so he must be amused. And he pats Keith’s shoulder after placing the cookie in his mouth, mumbling an encouraging: “You got this.” While grinning amused. He is amused, right?

Keith’s heart literally can’t take more of that, so his eyes quickly move to the ground, where they stay for quite a while, even when Lance passes him.

“...nope?...” he whispers to himself, hoping to be quiet enough so Lance won’t hear him.

He doesn’t. Hunk and Pidge do. But Keith doesn’t care anymore, because his brain started working again, going straight to overdrive where all thoughts are running wild in chaotic circles.

What the hell?

What. The. Hell?

Did Lance just- did he just ask Keith to ask him out?

But that’s not how it works, is it? Isn’t it?

While Keith is still stunned, the first bell rings. Pidge and Hunk drag his sorry ass through half of the school, barely managing to drop him off at his next class on time, shoving him into the room before scurrying to their own classes.

And another Spanish lesson leaves his brain fried, but for the rest of the day his only concern is how in the world he will ask Lance McClain to be his prom date? And what if he says ‘no’ after all?


	6. Chapter 6

After another string of catastrophic classes, a car-ride full of teasing home, homework, dinner and an elaborate brain-storming session to think of a plan to ask Lance McClain out, Keith is ready to give up again.

Listen, he’s not _that_ stupid. He knows by now that Lance will probably not say ‚no’, and he knows that the universe had it’s fair share of mercy on him making Lance feel amused at Keith’s disastrous way of handling, or not handling, things.

But even with Lance and the universe cheering on him, Keith still has _no_ clue how to actually ask someone out.

He can’t ask Shiro, because first of all he doesn’t want to give him that kind of satisfaction, and he probably has to beg as well, so hell no. Second of all, Shiro is an even bigger disaster than him, since he asked both of his boyfriends out in a fucking McDonald’s, leading to Adam having to take control over the situation, like usual, and manage to find a solution that fits all of them.

Maybe Keith should ask Adam, but he would surely tell Shiro, which will end up in even more teasing.

Asking his parents is out of question as well. That’s just straight up embarrassing.

Pidge would be an option, if they haven’t blocked his number after his third call that afternoon. And Hunk is out of a date, which Keith will definitely not interrupt with his own problems.

In his despair, Keith opens his laptop and searches the internet for ideas. The first things that pop up are some articles from teen-magazines, but he avoids them to click on a youtube video instead. ‚How I asked my girl out for prom’ shouldn’t be so bad, right?

Wrong.

It’s bad. And cringeworthy. And worst of all, she says ‘no’.

Which does not help Keith at all. Why do people upload their most embarrassing moments in the first place?

The automatic playlist turns on and leads him towards a fail-compilation of people asking other people for prom. It’s horrible, full off second-hand-embarrassment, some tears and even more laughter.

It’s basically everything Keith tries to avoid for tomorrow.

Everything he’s scared of ending up doing out of panic.

Everything that would make the rest of his high school life a continuous string of embarrassing memories and the constant reminder of ‘failure’ when he looks at Lance.

Okay, maybe he’s getting a bit dramatic here, but he just doesn’t want to ask Lance out with something so horrible. Lance deserves something nice after all, mostly for keeping up with Keith’s bullshit, but also since he just deserves to be treated right.

He’s such a good guy after all. Hardworking, charming, nice to the people around him, with a big heart for his friends and an even bigger heart for his family.

That’s what Hunk said at least. Keith wouldn’t know half of that shit without Hunk spoiling most of Lance’s private life in his attempt to encourage Keith to do this.

After three more videos of second-hand-embarrassment, Keith knows what _not_ to do. It doesn’t tell him _what_ to do though.

A poster would be way too much, and flowers as well. He really doesn’t want to get the attention of the whole school; that wouldn’t help his nerves, and he doesn’t think Lance would like it as well. He seems like a braggart to people who don’t know him, but Hunk said that he’s actually really modest and shy when it comes to things he really cares about.

So no poster, no flowers, no oversized plushie and no singing songs in front of his window. Keith got that.

But what is a ‘yes’?

He liked that one video where a guy asked a girl in the privacy of his car. She still turned him down, but at least no one saw. And Keith doesn’t believe that Lance is that type of guy who would tell the whole school about Keith’s screw up plus rejection.

So, a private place. A coffee shop would be out of question then, even though Keith knows a good one that’s not too far from school. They have amazing gelato as well, but again, it’s not private.

And Keith doesn’t have a car.

Shiro would be in the way again. And his parents will probably not let Keith drive the car, even if it’s just one time and only for asking his crush to prom.

Lord, why did Keith’s parents have to birth Shiro before adopting Keith? Why can’t Keith be the older brother? Why can’t he just figure something out?

And why did he forget that he owns a fucking bike?

It literally takes him dropping onto his back and smacking his head on his helmet to remember. With a string of curse words he rolls around in his bed, holding the little bump that’s already forming there with both hands until the pain fades enough to flicker the light bulb back to life.

It’s about time. It feels like the light bulb hasn’t lightened up in the last… week or so. Probably even before the whole Lance McClain disaster started to take place.

Anyway, the bike.

Keith knows that he is a good driver, and it shouldn’t be a problem to take his spare helmet to school for the day. Even his parents don’t mind him driving with the bike to school. He just doesn’t do it to save on fuel money. His grades are too bad to take on a part-time job, and his allowance too low to drive more often than on every other weekend.

The only thing that’s left to decide is the place where Keith should bring him. Pidge mentioned before that Lance likes the aquarium, but after school they have little time for a proper trip – or could this be called a date already? - over there.

There are some parks nearby, but they are usually pretty crowded after school, especially when it’s good weather like it has been the past few days. And that brings the same problem like the coffee shop, or asking Lance in school.

The only private places during weekdays Keith knows off are the mountains that are like two hours away, or the-

Keith facepalms himself. Why didn’t he think of _that_ before?

Seems like his brain is a bit slow today. And his other brain is currently blocking his number, so Keith is on his own. Though, he must say, even if it took some time, he’s certainly proud of what he thought of. A nice bike ride, a private place to take Lance to, and the right opportunity to ask him out for prom.

Everything should work out now.

Or not.

It’s the next day, right after their last class, and Keith is freaking out, almost crushing the spare helmet in his hands because Hunk mentioned that Lance never rode a bike before. Which, yeah, is kind of normal, since most people will never get on a bike, but Keith’s brain has been to slow to realize that, and now he has to face the consequences.

“You should still ask him,” Hunk tries to encourage him, “I’m sure he’d want to try it out.”

“Or he doesn’t want to and I’m back on square one,” Keith murmurs. He’s frowning at the ground, only half listening to what Hunk says next to him as his mind is full of ‘what if’s’, but the bad kind.

What if Lance doesn’t want to ride the bike with him?

What if Lance hates bikes?

What if Lance has a relative who died in a horrible bike accident and Keith’s question will do nothing but bring back traumatic memories he tried to forget for so long?

“Hunk,” Keith head snaps up, “did one of Lance’s relatives die in a horrible bike accident?”

“What?” Hunk is clearly confused. “No, not that I know of at least.”

That doesn’t help at all! There is still the possibility! But Hunk should know something like that, right? They were close friends in elementary school, and they are still neighbors! Right, Hunk would know of something like this. Unless Lance never talked about it.

“So,” he just can’t drop it, “there could sti-”

“Hunk! Keith!”

His heart skips a beat as Lance calls through the hallway. He approaches Hunk and him quickly, too quickly, and Keith gulps while the grip on the helmet tightens again.

“Hey, man,” Hunk greets as Lance stops in front of them. A smirk appears on his lips as his eyes move between Lance and Keith, and he quickly takes a step back. “Sorry man, actually,” another step, “I have to go home to- uh-,” and another step, “help my mom with something. Bye!”

And off he goes. Leaving Keith alone with Lance and a big opportunity and the tiniest hint of pressure as he shoots Keith a meaningful look right before he rounds the corner and disappears.

“Uhm-”

_Okay, quick brain-reboot. You got this Keith! It’s a simple question, nine words, very easy. ‘Do you want to ride a bike with me?’ Not hard. But what are words again? And why isn’t Lance saying anything? Oh, right, because you just tried to speak. So, speak now! Speak!_

“I have a bike.” Classic.

But it makes Lance’s face light up. “Really? That’s so cool, man!” He looks at the helmet and back to Keith, his smile so genuine and curious that it makes Keith feel calm again. “I always wanted to ride on one.”

“Do you want to? I mean, now?” And even if is heart is still beating like crazy, and his nervousness makes it a bit harder to think of better sentence-structures, he gets the point across.

“Really?” And Lance’s smile is so hopeful that Keith gets totally dumbfounded, nodding a few times which makes the smile even brighter, and Keith even more love-struck. “Awesome!” Lance takes the helmet from Keith’s hands which finally sets the gears in his head in motion again.

“Let’s go?” he asks, even though Lance has already rounded him on his way to the parking lot of the school.

“Come on, mullet!” he laughs, a sound that Keith would compare to angels singing if he could do more than follow Lance outside and plan the next step.


	7. Chapter 7

Keith did think about how it would look like to bring a boy he barely spoke ten words with to a secluded place like this, but seeing Lance smile brightly like this makes his doubts vanish almost too quickly.

He’s glad now that Pidge listed all those date ideas, and even if the beach wasn’t among them, Keith is smart enough to guess that. And it seems like Lance doesn’t only like the ocean, but loves it.

While Keith is standing at the shore where the waves crush over the sand, Lance is knee-deep in the middle of the water, playing with tiny fishes that swim around his feet and a few shells that come and go with the current. He’s totally fine by himself, and Keith is totally fine with just watching him.

It’s a quiet day at the beach, little to no people around, the sun peeking out from behind the clouds every now and then, and a strong breeze playing with the gulls in the air and Lance’s curls just the same. Shallow waves crush around his legs, a few drops landing on Lance’s rolled up pants, but he doesn’t seem to care.

He just stands there, eyes closed, arms open wide, welcoming the sun and the wind and the water and the serene calmness that comes with just being here.

After a while, Lance turns around, eyeing Keith who is still watching him from the shore with a grin. “You should come inside, it’s nice.”

Keith only shrugs. “I’ll bring some swim trunks next time.”

“Next time?” Lance asks with a chuckle, making Keith’s cheek heat up.

“I- uhm-” His brain freezes again, a familiar feeling by now, though he didn’t manage to make his mouth stop working yet. Little steps. “I mean-”

Lance, thankfully, interrupts him with a loud laugh, matching the sound of the waves crashing onto the surface of the water and the breeze sweeping over their heads. “I’m kidding.” He takes a few steps out of the water, stopping at the edge of the sea where his feet sink into the wet sand. “A next time would be nice. I love this place.”

His gaze moves over the horizon again, his serene smile matching the calmness Keith feels himself. He never really considered the ocean to have such an effect on him, but maybe it’s just thanks to the boy in the water.

When Lance does make it out of the water, he wanders a bit through the dry sand, his feet leaving wet marks in a circle around Keith. He leans down to pick up a few shells, eyes them carefully before leaving the ones with marks on the ground and putting only the most beautiful two in his pocket.

“Thank you for bringing me here,” he says when he’s finished, walking over to Keith to stand next to him and watch the waves again.

“You’re welcome.“

Lance chuckles quietly. “Honestly, I expected a stammered question in the middle of the hallway, not something like-” he raises his hand, gestures over the beach and the sea, turning to gesture at Keith’s bike in the far distance as well. “-like this.“

And Keith is very proud to hear the happiness in his voice. He clears his throat to get Lance’s attention back on him, a blush rising on his cheek when he remembers what he should do next. “Well, I can still stammer the question if you’d like that.”

“Not really.”

“It’s still gonna happen.”

Lance snorts; a cute sound that he quickly covers with his hand. Keith would love to hear more of it any day.

Instead of falling for this boy again, Keith takes a deep breath to steady himself. He feels the salty air calm him down a little more.

“Lance,” he starts, his voice a little raspy so he clears his throat. Another second passes where he collects his thoughts, but in the end the words just tumble out of his mouth like always. “Would you go to prom with me?”

It’s quiet for a moment. Keith counts the seconds, his hands clenched into tight fists in his pockets and his shoulders hunched. He’s biting his lip, though he only notices when it starts hurting and quickly releases it.

And all this time, his eyes are cast on the sand, because he still lacks the courage to face Lance. But the curiousness, as well as the silence, are kind of killing him, and he can’t help himself- he just has to look up.

It feels like the air gets kicked out of his lungs when he sees Lance’s smile.

“I’d love to.”

“Okay,” because Keith is stunned yet again. This boy is just so pretty, okay? How can one not be stunned facing him and knowing that they are going to go to prom together! “Cool.”

Lance laughs again, the soft mood definitely broken now, but Keith doesn’t care. He likes that laugh, likes knowing that he’s the reason for that laugh. And that smile.

“That’s-” Lance coughs, tears in his eyes, “that’s almost worse than ‘nope’.”

Keith groans loudly. “Shut up.” But his own smile is giving him away, and he hopes that Lance knows that he doesn’t have to shut up anytime soon. Maybe Keith can make him shut up with, you know, his mouth, but that’s something for the future. For now, he’ll just enjoy the laughing boy in the ocean, and the upcoming prom.

Seems like he did stand a good chance all along.


End file.
